Filming Othello

A Complete transcription of Welles' last finished film: Filming Othello and an interview with cinematographer Gary Graver by Lawrence French. All material courtesy of Lawrence French.

F L! "G #$%&LL# A film by #'(#" W&LL&( With #rson Welles %ilton &dwards !ichaeal !acLiammoir Written and )irected by #rson Welles *roduced by +laus %ellwig and ,uergen %ellwig *hotographed -in ./mm color0 by Gary Graver &dited by !arty 'oth !usic by Angelo Lavagnino and Alberto 1arbaris *remiered ,une2 .345 at the 1erlin Film Festival 36 minutes With F F#' FA+&2 thought had discovered a new 7ind of movie2 and it was the 7ind of movie wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. $he failure of F F#' FA+&2 in America and also in &ngland2 was one of the big shoc7s of my life. really thought was onto something. As a form2 -F F#' FA+&0 is a personal essay film2 as opposed to a documentary. t's 8uite different99 it's not a documentary at all. 99#rson Welles to Leslie !egahey2 .356 ntroduction

1y Lawrence French F L! "G #$%&LL# was #rson Welles last completed film2 and regrettably it never received any formal distribution in America. t was a pro:ect proposed to Welles by a West German $elevision station2 although four years elapsed from the time Welles began wor7 on the pro:ect in .34;2 and the film's premiere in .345. t seems probable that after Welles received the initial inspiration -from the German producers0 to ma7e the film2 he decided to ma7e it as a personal essay film. (ince Welles would continually come up with new ideas while he was shooting2 that meant he would do it at his own pace2 and -li7e most of his later pro:ects02 with his own money. n this regard2 F L! "G #$%&LL# strangely mirrors the wor7ing methods that Welles was forced to employ on #$%&LL# itself2 although it was obviously not 8uite as chaotic as #$%&LL#. ndeed2 F L! "G #$%&LL# was a much more leisurely underta7ing. Welles would simply shoot whenever he felt li7e it2 usually in the evenings at his home in %ollywood2 and he allowed long lapses to occur while he was busy with more important pro:ects2 such as $%& #$%&' ( )& #F $%& W "). Although F L! "G #$%&LL# is a valuable document on the ma7ing of #$%&LL#2 it is also a very minor Welles film2 since it consists almost entirely of a long monologue by Welles2 as he e<plains all the mishaps that occurred while he was shooting #$%&LL#. =nfortunately2 this tal7ing head format becomes tedious rather 8uic7ly2 despite Welles usual brilliance as a raconteur. %owever2 it should be noted that Welles originally intended to ma7e a much more elaborate film2 by including cutaway scenes that would have bro7en up the monotony of the lecture format. Welles not only planned to illustrate his discourse by re9visiting many of the 7ey locations of #$%&LL#2 he actually shot several of these se8uences2 including footage of himself on a motorboat2 gliding down the grand canal in >enice as he points out the different sites where #$%&LL# was originally shot. A brief glimpse of this beautiful footage can be seen in Gary Graver's documentary2 W#'+ "G W $% #'(#" W&LL&( -available on Laserdisc0. $hese planned se8uences would clearly have made a world of difference to the static nature of the film as it now stands2 but all that footage was somehow lost2 after it was placed in the custody of a (panish producer. 1ecause of the very speciali?ed nature of F L! "G #$%&LL#2 any hopes of a theatrical release -outside of film festivals02 was virtually none<istent. $his was especially true in the pre9video era of .345. Also2 at the time2 the rights to the original #$%&LL# had reverted bac7 to Welles2 so it was not readily available for theatrical showings. As a result2 after F L! "G #$%&LL# premiered at the 1erlin Film Festival -in ,une of .34502 it didn't receive a theatrical run in "ew @or7 until a year later. #n ,une A/2 .343 it was presented at ,oseph *app's *ublic $heater2 for a limited three wee7 run on a special double bill with the original #$%&LL#. Apparently Welles either elected not to sell the two films together2 or else he failed to get any viable distribution offers2 despite the fact that Andrew (arris of $%& > LLAG& ># C& wrote that the two films Bma7e an illuminating double bill2 that no serious student of film or theater can afford to miss.B At the time2 the highly influential "&W @#'+ $ !&( totally ignored F L! "G #$%&LL#2 although2 eight years later2 when F L! "G #$%&LL# was revived at the Film Forum -on February ;2 .35402 "&W @#'+ $ !&( film critic >incent Canby reviewed it 8uite favorably. Canby wrote that2 BF L! "G #$%&LL# is full of priceless anecdotes... an entertaining and revealing film memoir. F L! "G #$%&LL# is so good it ma7es one long for more... At the end of this rich recollection2 one wal7s out of the theater eager to see #$%&LL# again.B n .33A2 seven years after Welles death2 the original #$%&LL# finally got a proper re9release -courtesy of Castle %ill films02 and received the belated praise it so richly deserved. =nfortunately2 although the re9release provided the perfect opportunity to revive F L! "G #$%&LL#2 that only occurred in a few rare instances2 -such as at the .33A (an Francisco Film Festival0. #f course2 F L! "G #$%&LL# would also have made a perfect supplement to the subse8uent laserdiscCvideo release of #$%&LL#2 but only short e<cepts from F L! "G #$%&LL# were included on the Criterion edition laserdisc. )espite his many protests to the contrary2 Welles usually welcomed the chance to tal7 seriously about his films2 and in .35.2 he began wor7 on a follow9up to F L! "G #$%&LL#2 this time about the ma7ing of one of

his own favorite films2 $%& $' AL. After a screening of $%& $' AL at the =niversity of (outhern California2 Gary Graver shot a 8uestion and answer session between Welles and the students there. =nfortunately2 that was as far as wor7 on F L! "G $%& $' AL ever progressed. $oward the end of his life Welles planned many other essay films2 including one on (pain and the (panish virtues2 and the ma7ing of )#" D= E#$&. "o doubt Welles would have also li7ed to do an essay film on $'( ALL $'=&2 his aborted (outh American documentary. n fact2 shortly before Welles death in .35F2 the surviving footage of $'( ALL $'=& was discovered in a vault at *aramount. Although this footage was finally assembled and released in .33G2 it's fascinating to imagine what Welles might have done with his original $'( ALL $'=& material2 forty years after he shot it. $he following is a transcript of Welles remar7s ta7en from the soundtrac7 of F L! "G #$%&LL#. (ince the film essentially ta7es the form of a lecture2 having the te<t to read and refer to2 is a much easier way to digest Welles comments. t can now be perused at one's leisure2 without the strain of trying to absorb this rather dense material in a single 36 minute screening. f you have any comments2 can be reached at: lrfrench at yahoo.com

A long clip of the opening funeral scene from #$%&LL# -.3FA0 is shown2 and then we see #rson Welles sitting at a movieola2 having :ust run that scene. #'(#" W&LL&(: $his is a movieola. A machine for editing film2 but you 7now2 when we say we're editing or cutting a film2 we're not saying enough. !ovies aren't :ust made on the set. A lot of the actual ma7ing happens right hereH a movieola2 li7e this is very nearly as important as the camera. %ere films are salvaged2 saved sometimes from disaster2 or savaged out of e<istence. $his is the last stop on the long road between the dream in a filmma7er's head and the public when that dream is addressed. -$homas0 Carlyle said that almost everything e<amined deeply enough will turn out to be musical. #f course this is profoundly true of motion pictures. $he pictures have movementH the movies move. $hen there's the movement from one picture to another. $here's a rhythmic structuring to thatH there's counterpoint2 harmony and dissonance. A film is never right2 until it's right musically. $his movieola2 this filmma7er's tool2 is a 7ind of a musical instrument. t's here that other film instruments are tuned or finely orchestrated2 so as we're finally ending up our conversation here2 you'll understand that as a filmma7er 'm spea7ing to you from my home.

$his is to be a conversation2 certainly not anything so formal as a lecture2 and what we're going to tal7 about is #$%&LL#. (ha7espeare's play and the film made of it. $hat sounds rather arrogant doesn't it2 :ust naming the two in the same sentence. $he truth is2 of course that by any real standard of worth2 comparison is not merely impossible2 it's absurd. $he play is something more than a masterpiece. t stands through the centuries as a great monument to western civili?ation. $a7e an arbitrary figure: $welve. "ame twelve plays which could be called great. #$%&LL# must be one of those twelve. #f that twelve2 at least nine -which is another arbitrary figure0 are by (ha7espeare. $hat leaves three on our list for all the other writers who ever lived. s that putting it too stronglyI #r is it too highI @ou can't go higher than that2 and (ha7espeare remains immortally number one. Among all dramatists the first. $he greatest poet2 in terms of sheer accomplishment2 very possibly our greatest man. (o where does that leave a mere moviema7erI "owhere. "owhere at all2 unless we leave out all comparisons and consider that my #$%&LL#2 based upon2 adapted from and inspired by William (ha7espeare's tragedy has some little right to be considered on whatever merit it may presume to have as a movie. And yet2 if merits there be2 this is not at all a conversation2 nor am the conversationalist to treat it. )on't imagine for a moment that 'm pretending to be modest2 it's :ust my fi<ed conviction that critical opinions about one's own wor7 should be left to others. s my movie2 #$%&LL# good or bad2 flawless or flawed2 a masterpiece or a messI t's been vigorously and viciously attac7ed2 denigrated and dismissed and also praised2 sometimes 8uite e<travagantly. don't 7now your opinion. won't tell you mine. can't help the movie by telling you it's good2 or if thin7 it's bad2 if really do2 better not say so. WhyI 1ecause this movie is still being shown in theaters. -laughter0 *eople are still going to see it2 and 'll admit to feeling 8uite happy about that. Good or bad there's still some 7ind of life in it2 which is the reason 'd be sorry and guess pretty foolish to do anything to 7ill it. 1ut 've been as7ed to tal7 to you about it after all this time2 and this imposes upon me2 guess a certain guarded respect for the sub:ect. (o what 'll do is tell you what can. %ow the picture came to be made2 for instance. can tell you about that2 and how it was made. $o put it mildly2 that was 8uite an adventure. t led us2 before we were done to many strange and rather wonderful places in the world. nto and out of more than one disaster. $here were moments of sheer desperation and there was much delight. &scaping then from auto9 criticsm by means of autobiography2 will to 8uote the !oor himself2 BA round unvarnished tale deliver.B "ow2 how to begin the tale. Where shall we beginI @ou might say it all began in 'ome2 in a 'oman film studio2 with a 'oman film producer named (calera2 who owned the studio. %e wasn't going to own it for very much longer2 but if anybody else 7new about it2 nobody bothered to tell me. After about four years in the talian motion picture industry !ontatori (calera was still very much !r. 1ig. %e came on the set -of 1LAC+ !AG C02 he loo7ed at me and said2 )obbiamo fare #$&LL#B. -We've got to ma7e #$%&LL#0. saw no reason to argue. As an actor2 since my very earliest days when first charted an optimistic course that hoped would ta7e me to some of the great roles in dramatic literature2 #$%&LL# has always been among the highest of those aspirations. 1ut why did (calera suggest that should do #$%&LL#I Well2 he loved opera2 he was a opera buff and he made a lot of opera movies and made a lot of money ma7ing those movies. When he saw me made9up as was for the role of Count Caliostro2 with a gypsy ma7e9up2 curly hair and a big gold earring2 he was thin7ing >erdi2 and not (ha7espeare2 and he naturally said2 B#$&LL#. Let's ma7e #$&LL#.B Why did it happen in 'omeI didn't even want to be in 'ome2 wanted to be in *aris. t was the wrong place and the wrong movie. was trying to do C@'A"# )e 1&'G&'AC. "ow there's a romantic part for you. %e describes himself as a man with a funny nose. was going to ma7e C@'A"#2 had been wor7ing with -Art director0 Ale<ander $rauner for months in *aris2 but suddenly Ale<ander +orda2 who was our producer came to me and said2 Bmy dear fellow need

dollars. want to sell it to America.B %e did2 ,ose Ferrer played it and got the Academy Award2 and that's the end of that story. t was supposed to be commercial2 and it wasn't2 it was supposed to ma7e me rich2 and it didn't. t was the result of a letdown. %ere's an irony. 've been tal7ing 8uite a bit2 too much perhaps2 about myself as an actor. t's because as you've seen2 it was primarily as an actor rather than as a filmma7er that came to do #$%&LL# in the first place. 1ut2 if the movie is still being seen2 if indeed it is still worth tal7ing about at all2 it's not2 must admit primarily because of what contributed to it as an actor. was reading a boo7 on the sub:ect of my #$%&LL#2 in preparing for this conversation and it 8uoted &ric 1entley2 who said2 B don't act2 'm :ust photographed.B $hose are the 7inds of things you never forget. (o maybe was :ust being photographed in #$%&LL#. Which means it's high time for a word or two about #$%&LL# as a film. won't venture into the territory of the critics2 promised wasn't going too2 but staying safely on my own side of the fence2 what can offer is a hint or two of what was thin7ing of in terms of cinematic style and substance2 or less pompously2 what 7ind of film it was that set out to ma7e. What was thematic2 what was planned and what was accidental. n -Laurence0 #livier's #$%&LL#2 which was a cinematic record of his stage production2 Bthe core is the shoc7ing spectacle of a man who reverts to savagery2 -and is0 eaten up by :ealousy2 until he murders the woman he loves. !y film2 by contrast2 tries to depict a whole world in collapse. A world that is a metaphor not :ust for #thello's mind2 but for an epic2 pre9modern age.B %ere2 'm 8uoting2 or mis98uoting2 to not very good effect2 the critic2 ,ac7 ,. ,orgens who wrote a boo7 on (ha7espeare and the Film. 'm very grateful to him2 for what he said. 'm going to leave out the good things2 and the bad ones. $here's also some other 8uotes 'll refer too2 because it does sum up the intention behind the film. B$he visual style of the film mirrors the marriage at the center of the play99not of #thello and )esdemona2 but the perverse marriage of #thello and ago. *art of the cinematic language is born of #thello's romantic2 -and here we come to that word0 heroic nature2 which we embody2 - attempted too2 and here it says did0 by vast spaces2 monumental buildings2 the s7y2 sea and roc7s. $he brute fortress. $hese walls2 these vaults and corridors echo2 reflect and multiply2 li7e so many mirrors2 the elo8uence of (ha7espeare's tragedy'J -at least that's the intention0. J Duoted from Andre 1a?in's review of #$%&LL#. B$he grandeur and simplicity are the !oor's. $he di??ying camera movements2 the tortured compositions2 the grotes8ue shadows and insane distortions2 they're of ago2 for he is the agent of chaos. n (ha7espeare's verbal terms2 ago's masterpiece is to reduce #thello's lyricism to bursts of confused logic2 shattered synta<2 obsessive repetitions2 and unconscious puns.B BLie with herI99We say lie on her when they belie her.99 Lie with herK Lounds2 that's fulsome.B can't 8uote it e<actly right2 but it's a total disintegration and the attempt of our camera was2 Bto create a sense of vertigo2 a feeling of tottering instability culminating in #thello's epileptic sei?ure2 the murder of 'oderigo2 and #thello's di??ying final fall. MB(ha7espeare uses setting to e<press theme as well as character2 and his symbolic geography is s7illfully reali?ed by Welles.N ... n >enice2 ago's attempt to sow discord are frustrated. %e is but a shadow on the canal or a lur7ing whisperer in the cathedral99a threat2 a possibility. $he civili?ed order in >enice is embodied in rich harmonious architecture2 placid canals2 and in the symmetrical altar at which #thello and )esdemona are married. n Cyprus2 at the frontier of the civili?ed world2 the restraints of >enice are lifted. Art2 lu<ury2 and institutions are ta7en away. $he longer we are in Cyprus2 the more the involuted ago style triumphs over the heroic and lyrical #thello style in the film. >enetian Christianity is overpowered by paganism. Christian images appear but are put to perverse use. #thello's 7illing of desdemona is a dar7 ritual recalling the wedding in >enice2 but now he puts out the candles at the altar. $he sounds in Cyprus99wind2 shouts2 echoing footsteps2 slamming doors99they become surreally loud. !oving shadows distort the human figure...characters are separated by tremendous distances2 and yet there is an increasing feeling of confinement. Ceilings bear down2 walls become overpowering2 the world seems to be closing in.B B n the play2 one of ago's favorite images is that of the net2 the snare2 the web2 ma7ing him a fisherman2 a hunter2 a spider. OWith as little a web as this2 will ensnare as great a fly as Cassio2 ' he says. #ur camera holds that image before your eyes and plays variations on it. We see it through the grate which )esdemona passes to escape her father2 the net that holds her hair in Cyprus2 the ships ' rigging2 the rac7 of spears in the fortress2 and the windows and doors of #thello's bedroom. n the end ago is caught in his own meshH always hovering above him is the iron cage where the sun will scorch him and the gulls will pec7 at his

flesh.B Again2 my than7s to ,ac7 ,. ,orgens and to Andre 1a?in whom 8uoted in the midst of all that2 or mis98uoted again. "ow having laid all that heavy stuff2 here thin7 'd better e<plain how circumstance itself had a lot to do with the determination of our style. As originally pro:ected2 we were going to shoot most of the movie in the south of France. We were going to wor7 out of the old >ictorine studios in "ice. $his was the choice of the art director2 my dear friend Ale<ander $rauner. 7now only a few true artists who wor7 in that profession. !en li7e Cameron !en?ies2 >incent +orda2 Georges Wa7hevitch2 and $rauner is at the very least their peer. Well we had :ust finished wor7ing together for several long months preparing that C@'A"# )e 1&'G&'AC for Ale<ander +orda2 which you remember was never made. We were wor7ing at various museums in *aris2 and *aris was $rauner's city. #nce you've turned your bac7 on 1udapest in the good old days2 guess there wasn't any choice. Anyway li7e many another %ungarian2 $rauner was in love with France. really do thin7 that's why we were there. Why notI $hat's why found myself rehearsing a cast of &nglish actors in the 1ois de 1oulogne. $hat's why we were going to build the island of Cyprus on the Cote d'A?ur. Why shouldn't we2 after all Cyprus as $rauner painted it was a grimly handsome fortress of a place2 star7ly posed between >eneto and 1y?antine2 and for our movie much more right than anything real which might still be standing in this century. say he painted it2 because that's what he did. "one of the usual architectural renderings. "o mere color s7etches. $rauner painted2 he made pictures. *icasso2 who is not fre8uently an enthusiast for the wor7 of lesser mortals2 spo7e very highly of those paintings. heard him. was very happy and pleased about shooting in the south of France and this was not to have been only for the Cypriot part of the story2 but for >enice too2 and you'll see why. f for three9fourths of our film we were to inhabit an invented world rather than a series of real locations2 than our version of reality would have been merely moc7ed by those famous and familiar old stones of >enice. $here could be no stylistic integrity unless >enice too2 would be a >enice by $rauner. A city totally undeveloped by the tourist industry. (o what happened to all thatI $he answer is !ontatori (calera is what happened2 or rather what didn't. 'emember him2 saying B1iama fare #$&LL#B Well the arrangements for financing #$%&LL# were a co9production between taly and France2 but even before the first nail was driven in the construction of $rauner's >enice2 word was rushed to us that the French part of (calera's production had somehow collapsed. $here was no more co to the produciona. We were now talian2 .66P. We would be several other things too2 before all this was over. $ime and chance and many2 many other verisimilitudes would ta7e us over half of taly2 to &ngland for the mi<ing of the sound2 to Africa2 especially to Africa2 and specifically to !orocco. "ow #thello's story has nothing to do with his own native land2 but our story was very much involved in it. We were all over !orocco2 and in a minute 'll tell you why. ,ust here 'd li7e to mention how it came to pass that we entered the lists of the Cannes film festival under a !oorish flag2 appropriately enough 'd say for a movie on the !oor of >enice. 1ut this2 li7e so much else was not a clever plan of mine2 but a mere whim of fortune. We started off by losing the French part of our official nationality2 and at the end we had no nationality at all. #$%&LL# was a movie without a country. Which meant that there was no legal way to e<port or import this movie either way. $hat pile of film cans had come lugging into town had no status2 thus no chance to :oin the festival2 much less of winning it.

!orocco then was a flag of convenience2 li7e Liberia for a ship owner. #$%&LL# was the first and last film entered into the Cannes film festival that had no national delegation. $here was :ust me and those film cans. "ow2 here is how found out we had won the grand pri?e2 a little sooner than one is supposed to find out. #fficially that news is bro7en the way it is with #scars2 only when the winner is publicly named. 1ut several hours before the big event2 when was up in my room besides myself sweating it out2 waiting alone2 there came to me somewhat breathlessly the big boss of the festival himself. %e loo7ed distracted. %e wasn't there to give out any information2 but to get it. B!y God2B he said. B don't 7now who else to turn to. Can you tell me what is the !oorish national anthemIB $hat's how learned that #$%&LL# was the winner. didn't 7now the !oroccan national anthem more than anyone else2 so the band played something vaguely oriental from one of the French operettas. Losing as we did2 more than one nationality and forced as we were to adapt ourselves to a whole series of sudden alterations and violent retreats2 all sober planning had to be scuttled and the ma7ing of the film99 whenever there was money enough to continue99 was pure improvisation. $rauner's beautiful paintings had to be abandoned right at the beginning2 and by the end he made me a couple of walls and three pieces of furniture. We were never able to afford to build anything2 so nothing was designed2 everything had to be found2 hence all that globe9trotting. ago steps from the portico of a church in $orcello2 an island in the >enetian lagoon2 into a *ortuguese cistern off the coast of Africa. %e's across the world and moved between two continents in the middle of a single spo7en phrase. $hat happened all the time. A $uscan stairway and a !oorish battlement are both parts of2 what in the film2 is a single room. 'oderigo 7ic7s Cassio in !assaga and gets punched bac7 in #rgete2 a thousand miles away. *ieces were separated not :ust by plane trips2 but by brea7s in time. "othing was in continuity. had no script girl. $here was no way for the :igsaw picture to be put together2 e<cept in my mind. #ver a span of sometimes months2 had to 7eep all the details in my memory. "ot :ust from se8uence to se8uence2 but from cut to cut. And had no cutterK had a whole series of cameramen2 because of delays while went searching for money2 or too7 on :obs to earn it. -!eanwhile0 the cameramen themselves found wor72 so 'd be pic7ing up in the middle of a scene2 even a sentence2 with a new cameraman2 who seen nothing of what had been done before. Well2 of course all that was bound to have affected the shape and form and stylistic substance of the film. (o2 half a year of careful planning had to be throw away and a whole new conception built up2 virtually over night. Also we had been in rehearsal with the actors when the news reached us. @ou see2 we had been wor7ing hard over all those months2 and had designed a physical production in such a way that the entire picture would have been photographed in a relatively small number of camera set9ups. A whole scene2 sometimes several scenes would have been played without a single cut. $hat method of shooting2 absolutely re8uires the full resources of the movie studio. @ou need sets that brea7 invisibly apart2 to allow for camera movements. @ou need... well why go into it allI &nough to say that everything that sort of filming calls for belongs to the discipline and technology of the sound studio. 1ut don't thin7 'm spea7ing against real locations. "o2 stone is better than cardboard. #ur new real locations were :ust fine2 as far as they went. Let me tell you about the $ur7ish bath. don't need to be told that there's no $ur7ish bath in (ha7espeare. 1ut there is in !icheal !acLiammoir's fascinating boo7 on the sub:ect of our ma7ing the movie2 which is called2 *ut !oney in $hy *urse. t's a 8uotation from the play and very apt indeed2 it is2 and very funny the boo7 is. t tells a lot of our troubles2 and it tells how it happens that we found ourselves at the beginning -of shooting0 in the fascinating city of !ogador on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Why were we thereI We were there because we had to have real locations and the best one we could find for Cyprus was2 naturally not Cyprus2 movies being what they were2 it was !ogador2 way down there2 with the marvelous long battlements2 on which a lot of important material was photographed. 1ut when we got to !ogador with our large talian crew99 it was an enormous one99 under the distinguished Anchisi 1ri??i2 one of the greatest of talian cameramen2 and heaven 7nows how many people. =p to GF of them. $here we were in !ogador2 when our full compliment of actors arrived by plane2 chec7ed into our modest lodgings2 and they were indeed very modest2 because that's all there was in those days2 in that town2 and we started to wait. We waited for our costumes2 and they didn't

come. Why didn't they comeI $hey didn't come because as it turned out2 !ontatori (calera was bro7eK !r. 1ig of the talian movie industry had gone ban7rupt while we were in a plane on our way from *aris to !ogador. We found that after awhile2 and we had no costumes. We had a lot of actors2 we had an enormous crew2 and obviously the thing to do was somehow to ma7e the movie. Well2 had a little money2 could 7eep us going for a wee7 or two2 and in the meantime some people scuttled around &urope loo7ing for ways to sell portions of the movie to Cyprus or >enice2 or more li7ely ,apan or $ur7ey or something2 and get a few thousand dollars advanced. While that 7ind of frantic operation was going on2 hoping to get more money2 hoping to be able to put money in our purse2 and to be able to continue the movie. While we were sitting there in !ogador2 the idea came to us2 that maybe we could ma7e our costumes2 which had never been made in 'ome2 or if they had2 were being held by the (heriff. We could ma7e our costumes by using the local ,ewish tailors2 of which there were several. $here was a big ,ewish 8uarter in !ogador2 and they lived very happily with the Arabs in those happy by9gone days. (o the ,ewish taylors were hired and pictures of Carpaccio gentlemen and ladies were shown to them2 and pretty soon the costumes slowly began to be made2 but they wouldn't be ready for ten days. (o what could we shootI Well2 there was the big scene of the murder of 'oderigo. And what can you shoot in a costume movie without costumesI $here's only one place you could possibly be99 that is2 if you have a lot of people. f there's :ust two people2 there's an obvious solution. 1ut when there's a crowd of people2 there's only one possible place where people could be nude2 and that's a $ur7ish bath. (o we invented the $ur7ish bath. $here's no reason why not. $here were $ur7ish baths then2 rather more then there are now. All we had to do was put towels around the heads of our characters and photograph them from the waist up. We borrowed a lot of incense from the local cathedral2 filled up the $ur7ish bath with steam2 and the $ur7ish bath itself wasn't a $ur7ish bath2 it was a fish mar7et. (o to the sound of puffing incense and to the smell of decaying fish2 we made that very involved and adventurous se8uence of the murder of 'oderigo -it's more than a reel and a half0. After that the costumes began to get ready and we had a big Army of people gathered all in armor. @ou can't see because of the way it's photographed2 but all the armor is made out of sardine cans. $he banners were homemade2 too. &verything was homemade. Anyway2 we got going2 but after a little while the money we had saved and were able to raise ran out2 and we had to stop2 and then run to another part of the world and ma7e some more -money0. (o it went. $he history of it all is very divertingly to be found in !icheal !acLiammoir's boo72 he's ago in the movie. %is boo7 has been reprinted2 and commend it to you. "ow2 have some footage here2 not from #$%&LL#2 but about it. A few e<cerpts from a luncheon party2 a reunion really2 between three old friends. !icheal !acLiammoir on the left2 and %ilton &dwards ne<t to him. &dwards played 1rabantio2 )esdemona's Father. !acLiammoir2 of course was our ago. (ome time has passed since then. A 8uarter of a century. We've been friends a lot longer than that. We have heard the chimes at midnight. should e<plain that &dwards and !acLiammoir are together the founders and directors of the famous Gate $heater in )ublin. f you 7now the theater2 you 7now all about the Gate. f not2 there isn't much can say about it2 so 'll :ust begin2 because there's too much to say2 and wouldn't 7now where to stop. Let me :ust say2 that these two men together2 have written2 -and as spea7 these words2 are still writing0 theater history. $hen2 having dismissed their immense achievement with a single phrase2 'm going to ta7e a bit longer on the sub:ect of myself. $he sub:ect of this program2 being as it is2 my own film of #$%&LL#2 there's no way can thin7 of to avoid these lapses into autobiography. 'm obliged to tell you that the Gate $heater is where started my professional life. was :ust a boy2 and %ilton &dwards was still a very young man2 but he was already a master. (ince then2 as an actor in theater2 radio and films2 've wor7ed for what must be hundreds of directors. (ome were good2 some middling good2 many of course were mediocre2 if not downright bad. $here were a few2 two or three

perhaps2 who could be called great. #f these2 %ilton &dwards was easily the first2 and certainly the best of teachers. God only 7nows2 that as7ing him to play 1rabantio in the picture was a feeble enough indication of my gratitude. %ilton was also a distinguished actor2 and 1rabantio is a undistinguished part. $he truth is that he came along with !icheal to 7eep us all company2 and help out with the crowd scenes. %e 7ept a sharp directors eye on :ust about everything2 and after the days wor7 was over2 we'd hash it all out together2 burning the night away with tal7. %ere AF years later2 it's more of the same. (ome ;/ years ago2 when first :oined his theater2 !icheal !acLiammoir was playing his first %A!L&$. 1y general consensus one of the finest in living memory2 surely the best 've ever seen. %e's played it often since2 once produced him in America2 and he's played ago since he did it in my film2 and he played it very differently. %e's also played #thello2 and that often2 and that differently2 with %ilton &dwards as his ago and as director. mention these things2 so you will appreciate how well our two luncheon guests are e8uipped for this discussion. % L$#" &)WA')(: have a feeling that in #$%&LL#2 it was the 8uestion of the blac7 man2 and the white woman. Although we 7now that the !oors were really Arabs... #'(#" W&LL&(: @es2 but they were blac7amoors. % L$#" &)WA')(: $o my mind2 it was a blac7 man in (ha7espeare's mind2 and the white woman... #'(#" W&LL&(: )oes (ha7espeare give us the ordinary :ealous husbandI "o2 he gives us an e<traordinary outsider. n other words2 he gives us a foreigner2 a glamorous and strange savage2 however he's played. ! C%&AL !acL A!!# ': @ou were too young2 and was too old. #'(#" W&LL&(: #h no. @ou weren't old at all. @ou weren't A5 years old2 which is what (ha7espeare says ago is. t doesn't matter at all. $he age of #thello2 'll admit that's a fault of the film. t's a fault of my performance. should have been older when made the film. would have 7nown more about the part2 and should have seemed older2 should have played it older. thin7 it's true that #thello's in general2 should play #thello as older than they usually do2 because age is indicated in the te<t2 and it distances #thello and )esdemona2 and anything that does that99 age2 race2 culture99 any of those things are very important to the film. 1ut ago2 if let the fact that you weren't precisely (ha7espeare's age for the role be a consideration2 would have denied myself an e<traordinary performance. $hat isn't flattery2 it's the truth. We come to ago's character2 and the whole 8uestion of what Coledridge called Othe motiveless malignancy of ago'. We played him2 - had that idea0 as impotent. t was really not so much a 7ey for the audience as a clue for our performance. A way to :ustify a certain reading of the role. % L$#" &)WA')(: $here's nothing in the script to contradict your theory... #'(#" W&LL&(: $herefore we're free to do it. $hat's the great thing about (ha7espeare. % L$#" &)WA')(: have a theory2 that ago was evil for it's own sa7e. $he way we see a cat catching a mouse2 or a cat playing with a rabbit. #'(#" W&LL&(: What loo7s evil to us2 but it's nothing to them. % L$#" &)WA')(: t comes 8uite naturally. $hat's what's so terrifying. #'(#" W&LL&(: What you are saying is2 it is possible to have an unmotivated villain. We don't need )r. Freud at all. $here is such a thing as a natural born villain.

% L$#" &)WA')(: %e has a natural love of evil2 a pleasure in it. We have #thello being made :ealous of Cassio. "ow who is he made :ealous byI %e's being made :ealous2 by a :ealous man. ago who is :ealous of #thello2 being in a superior position to him2 and being a blac7 man2 where he's a white >enetian. %e's also :ealous of Cassio. $here's no 8uestion about that. Cassio is given the superior position2 and in Cyprus he sees to it that Cassio is stripped of his Lieutenancy. $o me the great thing is :ealousy2 :ealousy2 :ealousy. #'(#" W&LL&(: %ow does that apply to 1rabantio2 the part you played. % L$#" &)WA')(: thin7 1rabantio is :ealous of anybody who should be loved by his daughter more than he. get the impression of a whole community which is poisoned by a bee sting of :ealousy2 in varying degrees2 to everyone of them. $his is why would say2 the main theme of #$%&LL# is :ealousy2 which motivates all the action2 throughout the play. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': ago is the mystery of that play2 but you 7now many people say2 O ago2 haven't met him'. $hree times in my life 've met him. #'(#" W&LL&(: @our luc7y if you've only met him twice. #ne real life ago is enough in any one life. We've all met several of them. guess we are all agreed that this noble play2 this noble tragedy is essentially concerned with the most ignoble of all passions. sn't that what :ealousy isI ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': $he most humiliating2 the most agoni?ing and the most piteous -of passions0. thin7 it's self9pity2 it's a disease. #'(#" W&LL&(: )o you really thin7 that in this permissive age we're going to do away with :ealousyI don't thin7 so. Why do we laugh at :ealousyI % L$#" &)WA')(: @ou do2 don't. #'(#" W&LL&(: don't either2 but people do. % L$#" &)WA')(: Ah2 but who are peopleI -laughter0. #'(#" W&LL&(: $hose are harsh words2 sir. $han7 God for fun. % L$#" &)WA')(: -Actors0 don't thin7 as -people0 do2 or we wouldn't be up on the stage2 painting our faces pretending we were somebody else. t's the longing to be somebody else2 that drives us up on the stage. @ou don't laugh at :ealousyI #'(#" W&LL&(: don't even laugh at seasic7ness. % L$#" &)WA')(: ,ealousy in my mind2 is not a comic reaction2 it's a tragic one. #'(#" W&LL&(: And it's never been treated as a tragic sub:ect in dramatic literature. would say the reason for that2 is because all the literature we 7now about2 has been written under patriarchal male dominated society2 for males2 in which the final decision in all matters belongs to the male. What can it matter2 the problems of a woman2 if she is :ealous or not... % L$#" &)WA')(: $herefore2 feel sympathetic with the public attitude of laughing at the trouble. #'(#" W&LL&(: 1ecause the public is partly female2 and the public sees the essential comedy in the situation of :ealousy. % L$#" &)WA')(: 1ecause of other femalesI #'(#" W&LL&(: @es2 because women when they are :ealous2 -and we :ust as7ed one now2 between ta7es02 say2 Oyes2 would be :ealous2 but would translate it immediately into hate'. #thello is a perfect male type2 he 7ills )esdemona adoring her. "ow isn't that male. sn't that enormously masculine2 to murder this girl2 adoring her. "o woman would do that. (he would forgive the man2 or forget his crime2 or 7ill him2 but she would never 7ill him loving him. $hat is the hypocrisy2 the poetry2 and the absurdity of the male condition. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': ,ean Cocteau said2 Owhereas a blind man is a tragic figure2 on the stage2 the deaf man is a comic one.' 1ut you meet a blind man2 and meet a deaf man2 and the deaf man is much more tragic in real life.

#'(#" W&LL&(: #f course he is. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': %e's cut away entirely2 he can see everybody2 but he can't communicate. #'(#" W&LL&(: t proves the point very well. t shows that the point of absurdity2 which is the difference between comedy and tragedy2 and the 8uestion of :ealousy2 between the woman's and the man's attitude2 is in itself2 without any logic2 whatever. As long as the woman is any form of slave2 her role in drama is always going to be very limited. 'm not spea7ing about whether she should have it or not. % L$#" &)WA')(: (he has all the best parts2 in plays about lovers. t is the women's part. $here is nothing more fascinating to play2 or gets more sympathy from the audience2 because the man is responsible for the pleasure in physical lovema7ing. (he is not. $hat's #thello's own view99 what made him :ealous of )esdemona. %e was poisoned by ago2 but he had an overwhelming passion for the beauty and purity of this girl. %e denies the fact that he's going to be made :ealous by these little gossips2 the poison that ago is dropping. #'(#" W&LL&(: %aven't you put your finger on the whole thingI We're dealing with a puritan. #ver and over again2 #thello spea7s of her virtue. "ot that she's fair2 but it's her virtue. $hat's very much a puritan preoccupation. (ha7espeare understood that preoccupation2 he was anything but one2 but he understood them2 after all they're the people who eventually closed his theater. $he puritan strain runs through the &nglish character from the early days2 and that 7ind of &nglishness is in the !oor's character. $hat preoccupation with purity2 as an abstract idea. % L$#" &)WA')(: Another thing he can't give her2 is what the .3th century theater always forgot. n her2 )esdemona99 who is one of the most interesting characters in the whole wonderful2 terrible play99 is that she is not the little pious2 obedient girl as she is conceived of in the .3th century. "ot at all2 she is anything but. (he's a >enetian girl2 who would wal7 out with a negro2 and marry him. #'(#" W&LL&(: Certainly )esdemona is no cringing blonde. (he's not a born loser2 and if she dies a loser2 it's no fault of hers. What about another nuance2 and perhaps something else entirely2 close to :ealousy2 but different. What about envyI What ago feels towards #thello is envy of his position. (o envy is whatI (omething you wish you could have2 and :ealousy is something you fear you are losing. % L$#" &)WA')(: thin7 heard you e<press it once as2 Oenvy was a desire of having2 and :ealousy is the pain or fear of losing'. #'(#" W&LL&(: @ou can be :ealous for no reason. sn't there a 7ind of self9love involved in :ealousy. % L$#" &)WA')(: thin7 there is self9love involved in every human emotion. We're all ignoble savages2 whether we're blac7 or white2 or !oorish or 1lac7amoor2 or (panish or >enetian. (elf9love is the beginning and the end of the human tragedy2 thin7. #'(#" W&LL&(: agree entirely. % L$#" &)WA')(: @ou do agreeI $hen must be wrong -laughter0. can thin7 of two people envy. envy !ichael his languages2 and envy you your capacity for2 as you described it to me many years ago about another actor2 you said2 Bhe had a wonderful capacity for displacing air.B 1elieve you me2 no greater cubic capacity of air has ever been displaced by any human being2 as is being displaced by you at this moment -laughter0. #'(#" W&LL&(: @ou said something of the sort to me2 when auditioned for you G66 years ago at the Gate $heater. $hat was a bloody bad actor. % L$#" &)WA')(: always 7new you were a potentially -good actor0. #'(#" W&LL&(: f you're a politician2 you're in Congress and you wish you were in the White %ouse2 that's envy. f you thin7 the *resident is ma7ing love to your wife2 that's :ealousy. was :ust going bac7 in my mind to that business of #thello's age2 and wondering how many mista7es2 how many other mis9interpretations was guilty of2 that you were too nice to mention during the shooting. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': $here was never one direction you gave me which disagreed with personally2

never one. #'(#" W&LL&(: #h2 that's very nice. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': "ever one single one2 e<cept2 Bta7e the cloa7 and goKB #'(#" W&LL&(: #h yes2 thin7 better e<plain. $hat's a family :o7e. $here was a scene in which you were supposed to ta7e up your cloa7 and go. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': And disagreed passionately. wanted to ma7e the most of that. #'(#" W&LL&(: @es2 whenever wanted to simplify the action or the business2 whatever it was2 to eliminate superfluous declaration2 'd :ust repeat that privately famous line. ! C%&AL !ACL A!!# ': BWill you ta7e the cloa7 and go.B $hat's all you had to do2 you said. #'(#" W&LL&(: @ou did it2 and very nicely too. Let's drin7 to that. %ere our luncheon party comes to an end. We didn't run out of food or wine2 and we certainly didn't run out of tal7. We :ust ran out of film. Why wonder2 does !acLiammor say that ago is a mysteryI What he means is that2 (ha7espeareans often call him that. What worries them and all of us2 is the mystery of evil itself. $here's a tendency today to deny the e<istence of evil2 not to believe in it2 to call evil a sic7ness. @ou'll say2 suppose2 that our notion of playing ago as se<ually impotent is a very modern sort of tric7. Well if it is a tric72 and hope it isn't2 at least we didn't impose it very heavily on the film itself. "ow do believe 8uite fervently in the e<istence of evil. Certainly (ha7espeare did2 and :ust as certainly ago is the embodiment of evil2 more so even than 'ichard 2 whose actions were evil2 but who was motivated by ambition. ago has no ambition. %e hates Cassio2 for having been given a military title2 that he might have had2 but he would have hated him anyway. %is envy2 all of his brand of :ealousy is an e<cuse. #f Cassio he says2 Othere is a daily duty in his life2 which ma7es me ugly.' @ou see2 ago is a slave. %e has the heart of a slave2 he has the special cunning and all the artful hypocrisy of the slave who revels in the condition of slavery. )ostoyevs7y says2 Othe secret consciousness of power is more insupportably delicious2 than open domination'. ago says2 Owe cannot all be masters2 nor all masters cannot be truly followed'. $he irony is satanic. $he whole 7ey to his character2 and another 7ey2 comes again from ago himself. %e says2 O am not what am'. All the other people in the story are people with feelings. ago is the intellect. %e is pure intellect2 and as &merson says2 Opure intellect is the pure devil. *ure and cold'. ago's is the terrible alliance of pure intellect and hate. $his is the irony. $he worst of all %ell's2 says )ante's nferno2 is the %ell of ice. ago2 of course2 is incapable of love. %e's forever proclaiming his love for #thello2 to #thello. #thello believes him2 he is after all2 honest ago. $hose words2 honest ago are heard often. $he word honest is heard even more often. &verybody spea7s in the play2 describing ago as honest. )esdemona does2 Cassio does2 #thello does2 and ago does2 interminably. $he point is2 #thello believing ago is honest2 believes his blameless wife is dishonest. t's the supreme irony. thin7 it's easy enough to understand2 when you thin7 about it. After all2 )esdemona comes from the gilded2 pleasure loving2 lu<urious world of >enetian aristocracy2 about which #thello 7nows absolutely nothing2 e<cept that it's morals are notoriously loose. %e is a professional army man2 after all. A stranger to a society of high9born2 high9spirited noblewomen. %e's married one of them2 and they're :ust married. "ow that much is very important. %e scarcely 7nows her at all. %e never comes to 7now her. (he dies in his hands a stranger. #thello 7nows2 or thin7s he 7nows ago2 very well and before anything remember2 ago is honest. %is slandering of )esdemona is done with great subtlety. $here is nothing2 apparently to gain by it.

(o there really isn't any reason2 to spea7 of #thello2 as some critics do2 as childishly gullible. "o2 )esdemona2 for #thello is the bride in a romance. A dream who he has scarcely had time to discover is flesh and blood2 before ago has poisoned2 and begun to wor7 to turn his dream into a nightmare. ago is a trusted officer in #thello's army2 a companion under arms. #thello the soldier is monumentally male. %is story is monumentally a male tragedy. (mall wonder that the doubt falls where it usually does in life. "ot on the slanderer2 but on the innocent ob:ect of the slander. $here is certainly a simplicity about #thello2 but in trusting ago2 he does no more than anyone else in the story. $hey all trust him2 as we have seen. "o2 the commander of the armed forces of the great >enetian 'epublicis no stupid child. %e is no >enetian sophisticate2 either. thin7 he must feel something close to awe2 in his love of )esdemona2 the (enator's daughter2 who fled from the palace in the dead of night2 to marry a blac7 man. 1lac7 #thello2 the outsider2 the mercenary2 the foreigner2 and the older man2 must feel a certain insecurity when he contemplates this curious con8uest of his. %e had married her2 as if by a miracle2 but can he 7eep herI !ight she not turn away from him2 as suddenly as she ran away with himI Last winter they invited me to 1oston2 for a special showing of the film #$%&LL#2 and the audience stayed on after the screening. -Welles runs the 8uestion and answer session on his movieola0 W&LL&(: A movie has to have a great opening. t must command attention. $he opening of #$%&LL# is written for an audience that is :ust getting 8uiet. Li7e all openings in a play2 because you don't want to ever open a play at the top of your bent. 1ut a movie should open at the top of it's bent2 it must2 because this damn thing -points to the screen0 is dead. $he only living thing are the people sitting out here. t's a pro:ected image2 and you cannot bring the thing alive unless you sei?e the people at the beginning. $he riderless horse has to come in. $he funeral of #thello and the lynching of ago2 is the riderless horse. t's as simple as that. D: Why did you ma7e 'oderigo's dog a terrierI $he reason as7 is because the terrier is a symbol of marital fidelity. W&LL&(: $his is the 7ind of 8uestion love2 because if had 7nown about the 8uestion before2 would have been able to pretend that indeed used a terrier as a graphic symbol of marital infidelity. #h2 fidelity. $hat's :ust what said. 1ut since didn't have notice of this 8uestion2 haven't got time to con you. 'll have to tell you the truth. $he terrier was not a terrier. t was a tenerife2 which is a very rare 7ind of dog2 it is a lapdog used by the dandies in all the Carpaccio paintings2 and Carpaccio was the source of the costumes and the general esthetic of the movie. D: n Laurence #livier's production of #$%&LL#2 he seemed to stress the vanity of the man2 much more than in your production. Would you comment on thatI W&LL&(: @ou see2 the themes of #$%&LL# were set down first by (ha7espeare2 and of course there's a difference in every #$%&LL#2 depending on who ma7es the film2 or theatrical production. $here are so many ways of doing it2 there isn't one right way of doing it. f could ma7e #$%&LL# again99 first of all have done it in the theater since then2 and did it completely differently2 both as an actor and a director. We too7 an entirely new line on everything2 because that's the great opportunity that you have. $he minute you have a great piece of material2 li7e a (ha7espearean play2 or any other thing of that 7ind2 you are free to ma7e almost anything you want with it. @ou can go in so many directions and still be true to the essential :ob. D: $he role of ago seemed somewhat straightforward2 largely motivated by envy2 while in some of your other movies2 li7e $%& LA)@ F'#! (%A"G%A 2 the motive of Arthur 1annister -&verett (loane0 seems much more obscure. W&LL&(: "obody ever wor7s in a big organi?ation2 whether it's military2 or business2 or theatrical or anything else2 without running into a few ago's. "ow2 there are all 7inds of ways of doing it. When #livier did ago with 'alph 'ichardson2 years ago2 they did it as a homose<ual relationship. When #thello fell into his fit2 ago 7issed him passionately on the lips. don't 7now how that wor7ed2 but 7now that they did it. $here are many different efforts. n the case of this film2 too7 the line that ago was impotent2 and that his malice was the malice of impotence. D: @ou too7 the set design from your %arlem theater production of the voodoo !AC1&$%2 when you made

!AC1&$% into a movie. W&LL&(: %ow do you 7now thatI D: 1ecause taught a course on your films a few years ago. Why didn't you repeat the effort of trying to ma7e a film 8uic7ly2 tac7ling2 as you said2 difficult pro:ects in a short amount of timeI W&LL&(: $he point is that !AC1&$% was made in a very short time. t was only .3 days in principal photography2 with two days more for inserts and things li7e that. t was a real 8uic7ie. $he basic set had the same plan which had used in the blac7 !AC1&$%2 which had done in %arlem2 in the theater2 some years before. t wasn't the same set2 but it had the same basic plan2 because we were in a great rush. $he reason didn't repeat it2 was because was gambling on !AC1&$% being a great success2 but at the time the American critical press was very bad for !AC1&$%. $he &uropean press was very good. D: When you've got the film shot2 and your putting the film together2 what is the 8uestion that is going through your mindI What ma7es you select one scene over anotherI W&LL&(: have done a great deal of that editing2 while am filming. visuali?e the editing2 while am filming. When change that idea2 it is a deliberate change. t is a difference that is bigger than 'd li7e to admit2 and do admit it2 because actors teach you so much. $he scenery2 the smell of a thing2 when you come on a set in the morning2 whether it's #$%&LL#2 or a modern story. f you have a master plan for what your going to do2 e<actly where the camera is going to be2 e<actly what the scene is supposed to state2 if you are loc7ed into that2 you are depriving yourself of the divine accidents of moviema7ing. &verywhere there are beautiful accidents. $he actors say something in a different way than you ever dream it could be said. (he loo7s differently2 there's a smell in the air2 there's a loo7 that changes the whole resonance of what you e<pected. $hen2 there are the true accidents2 and my definition of a film director is the man who presides over accidents2 but doesn't ma7e them. 'm going to stop :ust here2 not only because our time is almost up2 but because at this point in the discussion2 the 1oston film buffs veered away from the sub:ect of #$%&LL#. f 've evaded any of their 8uestions2 or any of yours2 it's not by design. !aybe should have read into the record some of the things the critics have said against #$%&LL#. @ou might have found that informative. would have found it depressing. 'm very much afraid that under the banner of fair play2 and the interest of what's called a balanced :udgment2 couldn't have resisted reading you some of the good stuff as well. Anyway it's an argument that still goes on and on. spared you both sides of it2 and don't 7now if was mista7en. !aybe an anthology of critical reviews might have been rewarding2 but after all this is supposed to be my voice on the sub:ect2 so that's what you've had. 've tried to be as candid as can. @ou won't have e<pected me to be ob:ective. started by calling this a conversation2 but 'm afraid what you've had is mostly a scrambled2 dis:ointed series of notes. 've been coming at our sub:ect from every conceivable direction of the compass2 and might have put a better shape to this if had relentlessly pursued a single theme2 but that would have neglected all the other themes. :ust don't 7now. n trying to say too much2 may have said too little. #f course2 my film did not do :ustice to the play. t is my film and it is (ha7espeare's play. "o film2 indeed no stage production could ever do true :ustice to that play. "o actor ever did full :ustice to the part. as7 myself now2 if 've done :ustice here in my own movie. don't mean in the value may sometimes rather coyly have placed upon it. :ust mean this discussion. "ow2 let's try to sum it up. First2 how the picture was made. $hat story you remember. An talian producer dreaming of >erdi's #$&LL#2 and neglecting to mention that he was about to go into

ban7ruptcy2 stranded our whole company in a small town off the coast of Africa. With a little money of my own2 all had and absolutely no costumes whatsoever2 we improvised our way for awhile2 then stopped for awhile and had to go to wor7 as an actor in other films2 in order to earn enough to continue with my own. $hat went on and on2 and repeated itself several times2 and it meant that #$%&LL# was made so to spea72 on the installment plan. $his and other circumstances did impose a method and style of shooting2 which was contrary to what had been carefully planned. For a description of the finished result2 brought you those critical appreciations2 that correspond fairly closely to my own ideas. (ome thoughts on the interpretation have come from a couple of the leading actors2 with some additions of my own. All :udgments having been avoided2 leave you with this confession. $his hasn't been as easy as might have wished. $heir are too many regrets2 there are too many things wish could have done over again. f it wasn't a memory2 if it was a pro:ect for the future2 tal7ing about #$%&LL# would have been nothing but delight. After all2 promises are more fun than e<planations. n all my heart2 wish that wasn't loo7ing bac7 on #$%&LL#2 but loo7ing forward to it. $hat #$%&LL# would be one hell of a picture. Goodnight. GARY GRAVER on FILMING OTHELLO LAW'&"C& F'&"C%: %ow did F L! "G #$%&LL# come aboutI GA'@ G'A>&': t was made for German $elevision. $hey wanted to show #$%&LL# on German $elevision2 and they wanted a companion piece to go with it. $hey as7ed #rson if he would do it2 and he said2 Bsure.B $hat's why F L! "G #$%&LL# was made. We started in *aris2 where we shot the scenes with %ilton &dwards and !icheal !acLiammoir in a hotel having lunch with #rson2 and we finished it in 1everly %ills2 shooting in the living room of #rson's house there. ,ust before we made F L! "G #$%&LL#2 #rson's lawyer called =nited Artists about sending all the prints of #$%&LL# bac7 to him2 so we could use material in F L! "G #$%&LL#. #rson had a great sense of humor2 and was a very funny guy2 but he basically never li7ed going down memory lane. %e didn't want to discuss the old pictures2 li7e C $ L&" +A"& or $%& !AG" F C&"$ A!1&'(#"(. All he wanted to do was tal7 about the new pro:ects. 1ut he did en:oy ma7ing F L! "G #$%&LL#2 so in .35. we started to do a follow9up2 F L! "G $%& $' AL. LAW'&"C& F'&"C%: Was there a formal script for F L! "G #$%&LL#I GA'@ G'A>&': @es2 it was all scripted. #rson wrote it all. We started in .34; with %ilton and !icheal in *aris2 and then we did some wor7 on $%& #$%&' ( )& #F $%& W ") and came bac7 to F L! "G #$%&LL# in .34/. t was finished in .344. We shot every night that #rson felt li7e it2 but #rson was very superstitious of things2 li7e blac7 cats2 or wal7ing under ladders. Well2 we shot F L! "G #$%&LL# in a house had rented for him2 right down the street from where (haron $ate was murdered. #rson li7ed the house2 but he never 7new it was right ne<t to where the Charles !anson 7illings too7 place. f he had 7nown about it2 he would have been very suspicious about staying there. We also shot in that same house2 a .6 minute short to promote F F#' FA+&. t was done in GFmm and was meant to be the trailer for F F#' FA+&2 but the distributor didn't want to ma7e any prints of itK t's really a .6 minute #rson Welles film2 without using any of the footage from F F#' FA+&. t was all totally new film2 but the American distributor wouldn't spend he money to cut the negative and ma7e prints. LAW'&"C& F'&"C%: )uring the lunch with %ilton &dwards and !ichael !acLiammoir2 did you shoot Welles's scenes later onI GA'@ G'A>&': @es2 and while we were in *aris shooting the footage of !icheal and %ilton2 said to #rson2 Bwhile we're here2 let's get the reverse shots on you.B %e said2 B#h no2 we'll get those later.B %e didn't want to do it then. %e would often do that. %e would say2 Blet's get the body of the wor7 done. 'm always around2 we'll get me later.B $hen2 in the interim2 +oda7 came out with some new film stoc7s and when we shot #rson it didn't 8uite match the earlier footage2 because it was two years later. $he color is different and the loo7 is a little different. t's :ust li7e the way #$%&LL# was shot. A guy's tal7ing in *aris2 and two years later #rson is answering him bac7 in 1everly %ills. #rson's theory was that once he edited the initial footage2 he might come up with some new ideas he'd want to use. LAW'&"C& F'&"C%: F L! "G #$%&LL# seems rather static for a Welles movie. Were there any scenes

you couldn't shootI GA'@ G'A>&': We did a lot of stuff that's not in the film. #rson made up storyboards2 and we went to many different places. went to )ublin2 to !ichael and %ilton's house and filmed them there2 as well as to the Gate $heater2 where #rson made his professional acting debut. We went to >enice2 and got up at F in the morning2 when the sun was :ust coming out2 and did about an hours worth of footage of #rson in his blac7 cape and cigar2 riding through the canals of >enice2 pointing out the different locations where #$%&LL# was all shot. $he negative of that footage somehow disappeared2 so none of it could be used in the final film. Production Designer ALE ANDER TRA!NER on FILMING OTHELLO QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ had several other pro:ects with #rson Welles during this period2 such as The Odyssey and A Thousand and One Nights. $he only one of them to be carried out to fruition was Othello2 which was initially to be done in taly2 using talian landscapes for locations. After that2 we made the decision to turn to the >ictorine studios in "ice and redrew all the designs according to WellesR instructions. Finally2 #rson left for !orocco where he was to act in a film called $he 1lac7 'ose. $here we decided to change direction once again2 since we found that !orocco was very appropriate for the section of the film that ta7es place in Cyprus. What helped us a great deal was the mi<ture in the architecture we used. $here was an e<traordinary .5th century *ortuguese architecture in !ogador2 which corresponded perfectly to our needs2 as well as the superb old basements of the romance churches of &trurie -in taly0. We developed firm ideas and sought to adapt and modify whatever we found2 so that composite elements would form a coherent whole in the finished picture. Gradually2 we transformed !ogador into our studio2 since we were able to eliminate most of the things that would have been out of place. =sing mostly natural locations2 naturally one cannot shoot as one would do in the studio2 so it was sometimes necessary to return to the locations until we could arrange the scenes as we had envisioned them. (o if we wanted a s7y with a certain intensity to it2 found it preferable to shoot on location2 rather than attempting to shoot the scene in the studio2 in front of a painted s7y. NOTE" on the di##erent $ersions o# OTHELLO Othello was first screened in &urope at the Cannes film festival in .3FA2 where it won the *alm d'or2 the Grand *ri?e. %owever2 three years were to elapse before =nited Artists obtained the rights from Welles2 and released the film in "ew @or7 on (eptember .A2 .3FF2 at the *aris $heater. n the interim2 Welles prepared a slightly different version for American audiences. $he new version included the sub9title B$he !oor of >enice2B and was also three minutes shorter2 with slightly different editing. $he original opening credits that had been spo7en by Welles -over various landscapes of >enice0 were now replaced with printed titles. $his change was made at the re8uest of =nited Artists e<ecutives. $he soundtrac7 was also changed2 with some actors S including !ichael !acLiammoir S partially or completely dubbed by Welles. (u?anne Cloutier2 who played

)esdemona2 was completely dubbed by Gudrun =re2 who played )esdemona in Welles' theatrical production of Othello2 which was staged in the fall of .3F. -under the auspices of Laurence #livier02 at London's (t. ,ames $heater2 to help finance the editing of Othello. A slightly different print of the version released by =nited Artists in .3FF was found in a Fort Lee2 "ew ,ersey film vault2 and was used as the basis for the .33A Castle %ill91eatrice Welles BrestorationB that was subse8uently released on video and )>). "&W( $&L&> ( #"